An easy and simple homemade grain-free peanut butter pumpkin dog treats recipe, made with 3 ingredients for dogs with sensitivities to grains. A special treat this time of year for our furry sidekicks!
Table of Contents
Like humans, dogs also come in all shapes and sizes and have unique traits and characteristics. Some dogs can eat pretty much anything and not have a worry in the world, while other dogs have sensitivities to ingredients or are incapable of digesting certain foods - with this thought in mind along with an email I received asking if my other 6-ingredients homemade dog treat recipe dog treats could be substituted with grain-free products, I decided to create a grain-free dog treat recipe that was simple (3 ingredients) with no binders (like eggs) and no added sugars as an alternative for the pups out there with the special diets. 🙂
To keep this recipe simple, there are no eggs in this recipe. You actually don't need it as a binder because pumpkin is a wonderful binder on its own. I also decided to use pumpkin as the main ingredient because it's good for dogs (especially dogs with diarrhea and upset stomachs) and it has the ability to draw moisture out of things, which is a great way to dry out the treats! Double duty with no negatives. 😉
Grain-Free Dog Treats Ingredients
- Peanut Butter - When you are buying peanut butter for this recipe, make sure to read the ingredient label to make sure there are no added sugars, xylitol, salts or additives in it. I like to use natural peanut butter (the kind where the oil separates from the peanut butter).
- Pumpkin puree - You can find canned pumpkin puree at the supermarket. Please make sure you are buying 100% pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling, read the ingredient label, it should only contain pumpkin and it shouldn't contain any sugars or spices.
- Chick Pea Flour - To keep these treats grain-free, I used chickpea flour. It is also known as besan or gram flour if you buy it from the Indian grocery store.
How to Make Grain-Free Dog Treats
Dough Consistency
When you are kneading the dough, it might get a bit sticky, if it does, add 1 tablespoon of chickpea flour at a time and keep kneading. The consistency of the dough should be like play-doh. Once you have added enough chickpea flour and the dough is not sticky, you can put it in the fridge for an hour to harden it a little. This will make it easier to cut shapes out of the dough.
How to Make Dog Treats Without Cookie Cutters
I'm pretty sure our pups don't care what shape their treats come in, so if you don't have cookie cutters, it's really not a big deal. It will actually make the recipe even easier and quicker to complete because instead of using cookie cutters to make cuts into the dough and then re-rolling the leftover dough to re-cut them with the cookie-cutter again, you can use a knife and cut them into little squares or rectangles. 🙂 If you do use a cookie cutter, I found it a lot easier to dip the cookie cutter in the chickpea flour in between cuts so that the dough doesn't stick to the cutter as much.
Drying Out Dog Grain-Free Dog Treats in the Oven
I found that baking these treats was not enough to dry them out, and baking them for too long burned the bottoms. To work around that, I baked these in the oven for 30 minutes only and then turned off the heat but left the treats in the oven for an additional 30 minutes to let the residual heat dry it out without burning it.
How to Store Grain-Free Dog Treats
These grain-free dog treats need to stay dry to be stored well. Do not store these in the fridge or in a well-sealed container since that might cause condensation and trap moisture in with the treats. The more airflow you have for storage the better. I like to store these in metal tins or ziplock bags (90% zipped). They can be stored for 1-2 months.
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Homemade Grain Free Dog Treats (3 Ingredients)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups chickpea flour (165g)
- ½ cup peanut butter - natural (90g, no sugar or salt added, see notes)
- ½ cup pumpkin puree (145g)
Instructions
Making the Dough
- In a large bowl, combine the chickpea flour, puree pumpkin, and peanut butter with your hand and knead it until it forms a dough ball. If the dough feels very sticky, keep adding chickpea flour 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough is smooth and not sticky. It should be the consistency of play-doh.
- Once the dough has come together, cover it in plastic wrap and keep it in the fridge for 1 hour. This will make the dough stiffer and easier to cut shapes out of.
- Once the dough has been chilled in the fridge for an hour, take it out of the fridge and plastic wrap.
- Line a cookie sheet or baking pan with parchment paper and set it close by.
- Sprinkle chickpea flour liberally on the counter you are rolling out the dough on. Dust the rolling pin as well.
- Sprinkle a bit of chickpea flour on the dough and rub it gently on until there is a light coating on it, then roll out the dough to about ¼ inch to ½ inch thickness.
- (Note: If the dough is still sticky, it might stick to the counter - to address that, dust the dough frequently on both sides and flip it often while you are rolling it out)
- Use a cookie cutter and cut out shapes in the dough. It is crucial to dip the cookie cutter in the chickpea flour in between each cooking cutting to prevent the dough from sticking to it. If you don't have a cookie cutter, you can cut them into squares or rectangles with a knife.
- Place the cut out shapes on the parchment paper with about ½ inch between each dog treat.
Baking & Drying it Out
- Pre-heat the oven to 350F (177C).
- Bake the dog treats for 20-30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes have passed, if you have an electric oven turn off the oven and open the oven door ajar for another 20-30 minutes. (Electric ovens usually run hotter than gas ovens)If you have a gas stove, keep the oven door closed instead. We want to use indirect heat to dry out the dog treats so we don't burn the bottoms.
- Check the bottoms every 10 minutes to make sure they don't burn.
- Once they are done drying out in the oven, let them cool in room temperature for at least 5 hours. They harden and dry out more if you leave them out for a few days. I like to usually leave them on a large plate for a few days before storing them in a metal container.
Storing the Treats
- These can be stored in room temperature for 1-2 months, as long as there is good airflow to them. You don't want to put them in the fridge or an airtight container since it can create and trap moisture and cause them to go bad faster.
Notes
- When buying pumpkin puree, make sure it contains no sugar, xylitol or spices in it. It should be list 100% pumpkin puree on the ingredients label. We don't want to use pumpkin pie filling.
- Make sure to use 100% natural peanut butter (the kind where the oil and the peanut butter separate). The ingredient list should only contain peanuts, with no sugar, xylitol, salt, fillers or preservatives.
Nutrition
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Matgaret says
Is it possible to use other flour that is grain free? I have almond flour as my husband is diabetic and my male pup is diabetic also. Will it work for these treats? I would like to try them, but need to know that first.
Thanks, Margaret
Joyce Lee says
Hi Margaret!
I haven't tried using any other flour besides spelt and chick pea flour for our dog treats and I don't normally bake with almond flour so I am not really sure! Sorry I couldn't be more help!
Sienna Miers says
What can I use instead of peanut butter as one of my dogs aren’t allowed to eat due to the very high fat content and a health condition they have.
Joyce Lee says
Hi Sienna!
Hmmm that's a good question. I would recommend almond butter but that also might have high-fat content as well.
I have not tested it, but you might be able to use 1/2 cup worth of eggs in its place. I am not sure how long you will have to bake it to dry it out, you might need to adjust the cooking time and experiment with that.
Sorry I couldn't be more help! and give your pup a pet and hug for me! 🙂
Joyce
Dana Hanford says
Super easy and Pepper loves them!
Dana
Joyce says
Yay for Pepper! Give Pepper a big hug and pets from us!
LJ says
I've made a variety of dog treat recipes for gifts for the past 3 years. This is by far my favorite! They crisped up nicely in my oven after about 25 minutes. They've been so popular with our dog friends, I'm onto my fourth batch this year. Thanks so much for the recipe!
Joyce says
Hi LJ!
Wow! It's so kind of you to share with your pup friends! You are one awesome friend. 🙂
I'm so happy you and all the pups like this! It makes me happy to know pups are happy out there!
You're very welcome, I'm am always very happy to share especially if it's to make pups happy!
Give all your pups a big hug from us! 🙂
Happy New Year!
Joyce
Mike says
I made these for Kirk today, and he LUVS them. I ended up using a little less chickpea flour...maybe 1 1/4 - 1 1/3 cup...and they were the right consistency for rolling. I suppose it depends on how runny the peanut butter is. Kirk likes his treats a little soft, so I baked them for 20 minutes, turned off the oven and left the door closed (gas oven) for about 30 minutes. They’re just right, and I will make these again. Thanks for sharing this easy and rewarding recipe.
Joyce says
Hi Mike!
I'm SO SO SO happy to hear that Kirk loves these! Aww the happy puppy, makes me happy to see happy pups 🙂
Great tips, thank you so much for sharing them - you're awesome! The flour amount might need to be adjusted if the peanut butter is drier or runnier! I have never experimented with making softer treats but now I know I can! 🙂
You are very welcome, I'm always happy to share especially for our little furry ones!
Give Kirk lots of hugs (and treats) from us!
Joyce
roselle says
Very helpful and much simpler than the recipe I made up! Thank you. I just wanted to say that I use a mix of chickpea flour and buckwheat (I've used rice flour and coconut in the past but they don't dry out as well), and also add some dessicated coconut and a small amount of garlic and parsley so these might be optional extras?.
Fleas and ticks: yes, garlic. Also in the UK we have the wonderful Verm-X biscuits for dogs, fed daily; they are entirely natural and seem to work.
In response to someone's query about almonds, my understanding is that coconut and peanuts are fine for dogs but other nuts are not...? having said that, mine forage for hazelnuts!
Joyce says
Whoa cool! I never knew dogs could forage for nuts! haha What a fun pup! 🙂
Thanks for all these wonderful tips Roselle, you're awesome! Adding desiccated coconut sounds like such a wonderful idea and I definitely should consider adding garlic in my future batches as well, I'm trying to find a way to stop taking the flea medications, much rather have them guarded against fleas naturally!
Vick says
Has anyone tried Coconut flour? What changes did you make?